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Thursday, March 15, 2018

Walker's "Office of School Safety" not really about guns...

Boy, you can just tell Scott Walker is being forced to react to the nationwide movement to back universal background checks and ban high velocity military style weapons. Students figured it out. They're seeking a plan to "prevent" shooters from getting guns and entering schools, not react TO shooters already wondering the halls.

Oh, and just a reminder, guns were supposed to make us safer?

Walker's "bold" plan is political gobbledygook meant to sidetrack real gun regulation. He doesn't even mention guns...what guns? In fact, why do anything at all...

"Walker said he thinks tougher gun laws won't deter people who are willing to commit terrorism."

Walker's just parroting every other Republican. Remember when Walker repealed the 48 hour cooling off period to buy a firearm?

State Rep. Jesse Kremer.“I understand that opponents of this legislation will argue that the two day period is an essential ‘cooling off’ period; However, I do not consider this a viable argument. If someone is intent on committing the crime of murder, they will find a way to do it — be it with a bat, knife or an illegally purchased weapon,”

Parisi: "It used to be, that
there was an exception in the levy limits that would allow schools to
spend more money for safety enhancements like that. Gov. Walker also
eliminated that exemption to the levy limit, making it more difficult
for schools to do that."

Grudgingly Saving Kids Lives: Spending another $100 million, Walker's answer is to throw more money at the problem, create a bureaucratic office to stall or prevent reform under AG Brad Schimel, and tweak laws and procedures already in place since 2009:

1. Establishing the Office of School Safety under the Wisconsin Department of Justice (two permanent positions (a director and program and planning analyst) and two project positions).2. Requiring Mandatory Reporting for any threats of school violence.3. Amending bullying statue to include prompt parental notification.

Oops, Walker forgot to encourage universal background checks and a ban on high capacity military style weapons.

Democrats have been on top of this for years, but for some reason, when they want to spend money - like on school safety...well. Instead of Walker's $100 million plan, local governments can spend what they need, but still come in under that amount:

A Democratic proposal to exempt school safety measures from state-imposed limits on property taxes would cost property owners $85 million, according to a Legislative Fiscal Bureau memo released Wednesday.

Superintendent Tony Evers also objected to putting the grant program under the control of Republican Attorney General Brad Schimel, who, Evers noted, has signaled he is open to arming classroom teachers. Evers, Shilling and Assembly Minority Leader Gordon Hintz, D-Oshkosh, said Walker is ignoring student concerns about gun safety. "For a plan that is supposed to be about gun safety, I don’t see anything in here that will keep deadly firearms out of the wrong hands," Senate Minority Leader Jennifer Shilling, D-La Crosse, said in a statement.